New Corporate Structure Shields IP

Wed, 2012-07-11 13:13

In addition to delivering products to customers more quickly, Qualcomm, Inc. (www.qualcomm.com) wishes to insulate its patent portfolio from any claims resulting from actions and activities by portions of the company other than the Qualcomm Technology Licensing Division (QTL). As a result, a new corporate structure will feature the parent company, Qualcomm, Inc., which includes QTL and corporate functions as well as most of Qualcomm’s patent portfolio. A new, wholly owned subsidiary, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. (QTI), will—along with its subsidiaries—operate substantially all of Qualcomm’s research and development activities. It also will be in charge of the product and services businesses including the semiconductor business, QCT.

The new corporate structure essentially formalizes the way that the company has been operating its primary businesses. Yet Qualcomm does expect QTI and its subsidiaries’ product and service businesses to increase their volume of work with open-source software in the future. The restructuring will help to ensure that the activities of QTI and its subsidiaries will not result in the licensing of any patents belonging to Qualcomm, Inc.—including its third- and fourth-generation (3G and 4G) patents.

Under the new structure, QTI and its subsidiaries will own patents that were specifically developed to provide their open-source software contributions. Substantially all of the remainder of the company’s patent portfolio will continue to be owned by Qualcomm, Inc. QTI and its subsidiaries will have no rights to grant licenses or other rights to patents held by Qualcomm, Inc. There will be no changes to the IP that is currently owned by Qualcomm Innovation Center, Inc., which works closely with the open-source community to accelerate the advancement of the wireless industry. Qualcomm anticipates that the new corporate structure will become effective during the first fiscal quarter of 2013.